SANDYBRIDGE MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET ISSUE

Wires · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:19

ScottiB said:
MSI UK are currently finalising a plan and will announce shortly.

Due to the potentially low failure rate and the lack of any reported failures so far we do not see any reason to panic our customers. We fully expect the vast majority of MSI P67 users to be able to continue using their board without any major issues until new revision boards can be provided. As such we see no reason to leave our customers with useless components by arranging RMA's until replacement stock is available, which is expected to be about 2 months away.

I'll reitterate what's been said before, all SATA 6gbps ports are unaffected and the chance of failure on the affected ports is low. Therefore please continue to use your sandy brdge PC as normal and watch for further news.

Thanks for the answer im not too worried about how long it takes.

Berserker · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:27

Danny091 said:
While in use yes. Well thats what people seem to be saying IF you just use the 6GB/s intill this is sorted you will not have a problem.

I suspect this not to be true. The failure can occur any time the over-volted transistor has power - which I would assume is all the time as it's in the click circuitry.

That said, the failure would only affect the four ports mentioned, so you'd only notice it if you plugged something into those ports.

SimonMaltby · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:27

I'm sorry I don't understand what all the fuss is about.

Have we seen any failures? NO!
Will Intel and the Motherboard Manufacturers replace boards? YES!
Is Sandy Bridge a cracking CPU / Mobo combination allowing massive overclocks for all? YES!

There seems to be so much scaremongering and over hyping this problem.. It's a minor problem that the powers-that-be will sort.... It will take time to sort but by the sound of it, no one is going to loose out and it seems very unlikely that any of us will even suffer from a failure while waiting for new boards.

Please stop moaning and enjoy your sandy bridge setup... I am!
And for those of you who don't have SB what's the point in posting things like 'Boy am I glad I did not get SB on launch!'?????

Hats off to everyone at the shop and sorry you are getting so much hassle.

Gibbo · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:27

Hi there

Just an official statement.

1. OcUK will continue selling Sandybridge and all associated products!
2. OcUK will post up full recall plans from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI & others over coming days!
3. Recall won't be happening until March/April, so don't contact for an RMA just yet.
4. All Sandybridge boards purchased now are still covered by the recall and your warranty will be refreshed at time of recall.
5. The chances of having a problem within the next 3 months is less than 5% according to Intels/Asus testing and any boards going faulty right now can be replaced for another B2 revision which you can still get replaced under recall when it goes ahead.

So basically your PC/Motherboard is fine, it won't explode and the chances of you having an issue are extremely slim and remember most boards have 4 or more un-affected SATA ports.

As we have 110% concrete details from each manufacturer we shall post the details up and make new threads and announcements on our website.

So as it stands, don't worry and if your thinking of buying Sandybridge don't let it put you off, were still selling it and when the recall happens simply send your board back to the manufacturer for recall if you wish to do so.

Basically a load of fuss over nothing, the problem affects a small percentage and then the chances of it happening are slim, ignore the scare mongers and enjoy your Sandybridge setups guys.

Dactrius179 · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:38

would this be a contributing factor to the continous cold boot error i am getting or does that problem simply need resolved by new bios, (when its available)

NickM · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:42

Gibbo said:
I am in full agreement with you. This Sandybridge for me would have zero effect on me and I'd still be buying a Sandybridge setup right now if I was in the market for a new setup or PC.

Genuine question: Why would you buy a component with a known fault (which will cause hassle/downtime when it eventually dies and needs to be RMA'd) rather than waiting a few months for a non faulty one? Even if you don't need to use the affected SATA ports you'd still need to RMA it before you sold it. IMO you'd have to be pretty impatient not to wait till the new B3s are released :confused:

.

edit: Just to clarify, I have no problems with OcUK selling the SB mobos as there's a warning up and that's the users choice but I don't see why anyone would buy a SB setup now and not wait a few months!

tommytinkle · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:46

NathWraith said:
The majority of our customers are well educated in computer hardware so we don't see this as a massive issue.

Perhaps they are, or infact you'd think so, given if not they'd be purple shirting it up. Having worked in IT since the age of 14( saturday job, 1998) when Pentium 3 was king I have a reasonable amount of knowledge myself.

Just awaiting the return instructions so it can be sent back to you is all.

Trollslayer · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:48

As long we know there is no short term threat and that we will be contacted when there is something to contact us about then I'm OK.
P.S. Me? A thug? *pout*

stulid · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:52

And who pays for the postage back to OcUK?

duncanm · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:57

stulid said:
And who pays for the postage back to OcUK?

Not the customer.
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf

koolpc · 2 Feb 2011 at 17:58

Gibbo said:
when the recall happens simply send your board back to the manufacturer for recall if you wish to do so.

Dont you mean send the board back to you?

Gibbo · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:01

NickM said:
Genuine question: Why would you buy a component with a known fault (which will cause hassle/downtime when it eventually dies and needs to be RMA'd) rather than waiting a few months for a non faulty one? Even if you don't need to use the affected SATA ports you'd still need to RMA it before you sold it. IMO you'd have to be pretty impatient not to wait till the new B3s are released .

edit: Just to clarify, I have no problems with OcUK selling the SB mobos as there's a warning up and that's the users choice but I don't see why anyone would buy a SB setup now and not wait a few months!

Because I'd be buying something like an Asus P67 Pro which has 4 ports un-affected!

I'd have 1 or 2 SSD's in RAID 0 on the 6G ports, then I'd have probably 1-2 normal HDD's on the other 2 un-affected ports and finally an optical drive of some sorts on the affected ports.

Therefor the likely hood of this issue effecting myself would be more or less zero and as such I'd not worry at all about such an issue. Should I have a problem in my 3yr ownership I would get the board replaced under warranty.

Therefor I see this as not a problem, there are far more important things in life.

Gibbo · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:04

koolpc said:
Dont you mean send the board back to you?

Nope Asus have informed us they shall be dealing with it.

MSI shall be giving this option and Gigabyte are still making a decision.

Simple facts are were not geared up to deal with a recall wheras the manufacturers are and Asus have already stated they shall be dealing directly with customer. MSI have said it will be the primary option and Gigabyte are looking to follow.

So Asus will be back to them, no doubt similar to Gigabyte and with MSI the primary option. Customers can return to us but the turn around will be slower than dealing with the manufacturers who are setting up such processes.

koolpc · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:04

Problem being Gibbo is that when you spend a lot of money on an item you expect it to be 100% working without the thought that something might go belly up in the future.

Plus, as noted above, Gigabyte have said that all suppliers should remove said boards from sale yet you are going against their wisdom and still selling them!! That doesn't look very professional mate

Still better for you to collect said boards and deal with the returns. No need for customers to be out of pocket with postage costs etc. I would want to return to the retailer myself.

Gibbo · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:06

duncanm said:
Not the customer.
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf

From my early gatherings the manufacturers will get the board collected from the customer or re-imburse the customer.

But until these plans are put together lets wait and all manufacturers have stated exact procedures/plans won't be until after Chinese New Year.

koolpc · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:08

Gibbo said:
From my early gatherings the manufacturers will get the board collected from the customer or re-imburse the customer.

But until these plans are put together lets wait and all manufacturers have stated exact procedures/plans won't be until after Chinese New Year.

Sorry but i have to disagree there. The boards, wether bought from OcUK or a competitor, should be dealt with by the retailer. You sold the boards, you should sort it out. Simples.

Gibbo · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:10

koolpc said:
Problem being Gibbo is that when you spend a lot of money on an item you expect it to be 100% working without the thought that something might go belly up in the future.

Plus, as noted above, Gigabyte have said that all suppliers should remove said boards from sale yet you are going against their wisdom and still selling them!! That doesn't look very professional mate

Still better for you to collect said boards and deal with the returns. No need for customers to be out of pocket with postage costs etc. I would want to return to the retailer myself.

Were giving the option to the customer, you can buy or not, am I holding a gun to your head saying buy Gigabyte or I will pull the trigger?

Asus have decided its insane to stop selling the boards, I'd not be surprised if Gigabyte decide differently as Intel have stated they don't want their Q1 ruined due to this.

OcUK is not a sheep, we make our own decisions and try too give our customers as many options as possible and not limit those options.

Kenai · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:11

Gibbo said:
sold as new again with full warranty.

Surely they're not allowed to do this?

I could understand using early returns, fixed to swap out with later returns but surely it'd be illegal to sell boards as new if they'd actually seen a month or two of use, regardless of whatever warranty terms they choose to apply?

Gibbo · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:12

koolpc said:
Sorry but i have to disagree there. The boards, wether bought from OcUK or a competitor, should be dealt with by the retailer. You sold the boards, you should sort it out. Simples.

GET A GRIP FFS!

If a customer wants to return to us we shall happily deal with it.

However the faster and easiest option is the manufacturer will swap the board at in a very quick time and one at no cost to customers.

If it was me I'd want my board turned around in quickest time possible at no cost to myself, this is something the manufacturer can do, because surprisingly they are equipped to do so in the quickest possible time.

Essentially they are cutting out the middle men, the resellers and thats why Asus the largest motherboard manufacturer has choosen to do things this way. We will of course happily deal with it too, but we can't promise as quick turn around.

duncanm · 2 Feb 2011 at 18:13

Gibbo said:
Because I'd be buying something like an Asus P67 Pro which has 4 ports un-affected!

I'd have 1 or 2 SSD's in RAID 0 on the 6G ports, then I'd have probably 1-2 normal HDD's on the other 2 un-affected ports and finally an optical drive of some sorts on the affected ports.

Therefor the likely hood of this issue effecting myself would be more or less zero and as such I'd not worry at all about such an issue. Should I have a problem in my 3yr ownership I would get the board replaced under warranty.

Therefor I see this as not a problem, there are far more important things in life.

I know it's annoyingly pedantic, but the write rates of the Marvell ports are atrocious, far worse than Intel 3Gb ones.

*****SANDYBRIDGE MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET ISSUE*****

SANDYBRIDGE MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET ISSUE